PRINANO Secures Tens of Millions in Angel Funding to Advance Nanoimprint Lithography Technology​

In late July, our company completed a tens of millions of yuan angel funding round exclusively invested by FreeS Fund. This round will primarily be used to expand the team and advance the development of mass-production nanoimprint equipment as well as the establishment of nanoimprint material production lines.

Nanoimprint technology emerged in 1995 when DUV lithography encountered a technical bottleneck at 100nm resolution. To break through this barrier, Professor Stephen Y. Chou, a Chinese-American member of the US National Academy of Engineering, first proposed this novel ultra-high resolution sub-10nm nanostructure manufacturing technology based on polymer molding processes.

PRINANO Technology Hangzhou Co Ltd was founded in 2017, focusing on manufacturing and R&D of nanoimprint equipment and materials. The company's founder and Chief Scientist, Professor Ge Haixiong, who studied under the inventor of nanoimprint technology Professor Chou, has conducted research in nanoimprint technology for over twenty years, developing spin-coated UV-curable nanoimprint processes and material systems.

Compared with lithography, nanoimprint offers advantages including relatively simple processes, low cost, ultra-high resolution, 3D complex nanostructure manufacturing, direct formation of functional materials, and no development requirements.

Nanoimprint technology continues to evolve. In recent years, Japan's Canon Group has developed step-and-repeat nanoimprint technology for mass-producing integrated circuit chips, successfully applying it to 15nm process 3D NAND memory chips through its subsidiary Kioxia Technology, which has completed related product development and pilot production. Additionally, SK Hynix plans to introduce nanoimprint equipment from Canon to begin mass-producing 3D NAND flash memory around 2025.

Chip manufacturing and future quantum chips will be core application scenarios for nanoimprint. Beyond this, the technology can also be used in micro-nano optics, ARVR, patterned sapphire substrates, biochips, metalenses, and photonic chips.

The company's technical team has established a complete nanoimprint technology system and, with partners, achieved ultra-high resolution imprints with 8nm period and 4nm linewidth, demonstrating that nanoimprint resolution can meet future IC manufacturing requirements for smaller feature sizes.

The company has independently developed core nanoimprint technologies and aims to promote industrial applications. For different application fields, scenarios, and needs, PRINANO can provide customized high-performance nanoimprint products and technical services. According to founder and CEO Deng Mengmeng, PRINANO is currently the only domestic supplier integrating nanoimprint equipment, materials, and processes into complete high-end micro-nano manufacturing solutions.

Nanoimprint Closed-Loop Solution

For equipment, the company offers nanoimprint systems for different scenarios: desktop research models, semi-automatic R&D models, fully automatic mass-production models, and auxiliary imprinting equipment.

Residue-Free Nanoimprint Technology

For materials, PRINANO has a complete nanoimprint resist system including nearly thirty types of materials for semiconductor etching, optical applications, structure transfer, surface treatment, and mold replication.

Full-Series Nanoimprint Materials

For processes, beyond traditional thermal and UV-curing imprint methods, PRINANO has developed multiple proprietary core technologies including composite polymer template replication, residue-free nanoimprint, curved surface nanoimprint, dual-transfer layer nanoimprint, and dual-chamber nanoimprint.

Wafer-Semiconductor Nanoimprint System

The company's business segments already collaborate with many leading domestic semiconductor, optical, display, and ARVR companies to provide relevant technical solutions. Furthermore, PRINANO's R&D team is actively introducing its specialized nanoimprint technology into high-end manufacturing industries including semiconductor production, LED chips, and optical chips.

Nanoimprint technology globally remains in a trial phase toward mass production, with challenges like equipment yield and imprint uniformity not yet fully resolved.

Professor Ge Haixiong points out that current industry understanding of nanoimprint technology remains insufficient. While some overseas companies progress faster in industrial applications, their technical approaches aren't optimal, with inherent flaws in key technologies. Domestic companies merely imitating for rapid industrialization risk misapplying the technology, and even when encountering numerous process difficulties, lack professional solving capabilities.

In Professor Ge's view, nanoimprint requires continuous accumulation, refinement, and collaboration between upstream technology suppliers and downstream applications to eventually develop a mature industry chain—there are no shortcuts.

Currently, the company's R&D team includes over 10 PhDs with nanoimprint experience. Technical staff from Princeton University, Nanjing University, USTC, and Peking University bring extensive industry expertise in equipment manufacturing, material process development, and industrial applications. The team is rapidly expanding to include professionals in semiconductor machinery R&D, design, electrical software, equipment manufacturing, and chemical production. The current team has over 20 members, with R&D and engineering technical personnel exceeding 90% of staff.

Investor Perspective

FreeS Capital Vice President Yan Qianhang stated: "As a micro-nano processing technology using physical molding for nanoscale pattern transfer, nanoimprint has seen academic and industrial efforts since its 1995 invention to apply it in IC and other fields for scaled implementation. Recent years' successful applications in micro-nano optical devices and biochips have laid the foundation for rapid commercialization. Overseas, Canon's persistent R&D investments have achieved industrial application in flash memory production, replacing traditional lithography and demonstrating nanoimprint's potential as an alternative in IC fields. PRINANO's core team possesses not only top-tier technical understanding but also integrated equipment, materials, and process capabilities for full-flow development. FreeS has always been optimistic about the development and application of observation, processing, and control technologies at micro scales. We believe PRINANO can deliver higher quality, efficiency, and cost-effective mass-production solutions through the team's persistent efforts."